My husband and I will be in Venice next month and are about to book the Secret Itineraries Tour at the Doge's Palace. According to the official website, we will be able to stay after the tour to continue looking around; however, I do not see anything about arriving early. Does anyone have any information about this?
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15799 posts
The SI tour begins inside the Palace, in the courtyard. Once you pick up your tickets, you can enter the Palace anytime before the tour. The guide usually (always?) begins with a fairly long introduction, so even if you are a couple minutes late, you'll find the group. Of course, it's best to be there about 5 minutes in advance. After the intro, the tour goes to places that are not otherwise accessible to visitors. The tour ends in the palace and you can then roam to your hearts' content.
You spend much of the tour in the upper reaches, under the roof. In cold weather, it can be very cold, in hot weather it is stiflingly hot. April should be a great time for it.
Posted by
Lewiston, Idaho, USA
2092 posts
My receipt for May says to "present the receipt up to one hour before the tour for the actual tickets."